Battle brewing over beer names

Unique names for beers are getting harder to come by, creating a legal challenge for brewers seeking to protect their intellectual property.

Feb. 18, 2013

Dramatic artwork went into the label for Wake Up Dead, an imperial stout by Left Hand Brewing in Longmont, shown here Thursday at Wilbur's Total Beverage Wine & Spirits. / V. Richard Haro/The Coloradoan

Background It all started with beer IP

The practice of protecting intellectual property started with a beer logo in the 1800s in the United Kingdom. Bass & Co.’s Pale Ale logo that includes the large signature red triangle was the first trademark registered in the United Kingdom in 1876, according to ipo.gov.uk.

Beers from Breckenridge Brewery in Denver are lined up at Wilbur's Total Beverage Wine & Spirits. Brewers are learning to ensure that the names for their beverages are not duplicated elsewhere. / V. Richard Haro/The Coloradoan

When it came time to name their beers, Verboten Brewing’s owners agonized over what direction to take. After all, first impressions are everything.

The Loveland brewers could have run with the “forbidden” theme as indicated by the brewery’s name, or could choose a different track. But they found many unique, compelling beer names are already spoken for.

So, they opted to “copy” in a creative and legal way, deciding to name all their beers after movie quotes.

“For us, it’s a fun way to do something that can be a challenging part of the business, to come up with the name,” said co-owner Angie Grenz.

Verboten’s challenge to find unique beer names is one increasingly shared as brewers seek to create memorable monikers for their products without facing legal challenges over trademarks.

The concept of naming beers after movie quotes is more than just a never-ending resource for Grenz, it also turns into a fun game at the brewery’s tasting room as people try to guess the films and come up with names of their own.

Verboten now has a beer named “Killer Boots Caramel Porter” — referencing a line lifted from the film “Dumb and Dumber.” “As You Wish Raspberry Porter” is named after a line from “The Princess Bride.” And “Thinking of Something Orange” is from the comedy “UHF.”

To date, Verboten has not taken any steps to register or trademark their beer names, but Grenz said once they look to start distributing, they will move to protect the names.

Beer and law do mix

The legal side of their business is one that often brewers tend to overlook. New brewers aren’t usually copyright experts, so they can risk overlooking the protection of their intellectual property, including beer names.

A nod to the increase in litigation as of late: Paul Gatza, director of the Boulder-based Brewers Association, noted they see more lawyers each year at the annual brewers’ conference offering advice on how to deal with legal issues.

“It’s been an issue that’s increasing. In the past, it’s more of a brewery name issue,” he said. “When someone finds someone is second to the table, they will change the beer name.”

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One of the first Colorado craft brewers to have to change a beer name based on another brewery already using the same name was Oskar Blues.

In 2011, the Longmont brewery changed the name of its Imperial Red IPA Gordon Knight, a tribute to a firefighter who died in a helicopter crash fighting a forest fire near Oskar Blues, to G’Knight.

Chad Melis, Oskar Blues spokesman, said the brewer knew when they named the beer that it could conflict with Gordon Biersch Brewing Co. in California. When Oskar Blues started distributing in California, it agreed to change the name.

“We knew that could not get a trademark for the name,” he said. “We didn’t realize we would grow so fast and that they would care.”

Since then, Melis said Oskar Blues hasn’t had any beer name conflicts and that it trademarks its beer names. Like G’Knight, most Oskar Blues beers have a story behind them and many times are a joke that started around the brewhouse.

“One thing good in the beer industry is everyone gets along well, and I don’t think anyone wants to steal anyone else’s thunder,” said Melis, noting how unique their beer names are. “Old Chub. Who else would want to call a beer that? It’s so unique no one else is taking them.”

More breweries equal fewer names

In 1989, when Odell Brewing Co. started naming its beers, there was rarely any overlap of names.

Odell spokeswoman Amanda Johnson-King said, with the rise of new breweries across the country, it’s becoming harder to find unique names.

The brewery, which has no theme for its beer names, has a running shared document list of potential names. Anyone in the brewery can add to it. Sometimes, product development teams will come up with a style of beer and solicit name ideas.

When they settle on a name, Johnson-King will do a search to ensure it is available and then trademark it.

Matson said he casually mentioned some beer names he had thought up in conversation and later found that breweries used them. Today, Matson is more tight-lipped when he thinks up a clever name and uses the “poor man’s patent” where he will mail the beer name to himself to prove the date he came up with the idea.

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“It’s like anything else. With music it’s hard to come up with an original band name that suits the style of music you make,” he said. “It’s like that with the style of beer you make.”

Another Loveland brewery, Grimm Brothers Brewhouse, also has a theme when it comes to its beer names.

The brewery names all of its beer after Grimm Brothers fairy tale characters or stories such as “Little Red Cap” and “Snow Drop.”

Russell Fruits, Grimm Brothers beer evangelist, said that because Grimm uses names from classic fairy tales, it has a set reservoir to pull from.

Considering individual trademarks can be costly, Fruits said they will simply register the names with the state and federal government to prove they were using them should someone else try to use the name.

“Since Strange (Brewing), people are getting a lot more careful and ramping up lawsuits because of a lot of problems lately,” said Fruits, referring to a legal tussle Denver’s Strange Brewing Co. had over conflict with a homebrewing shop that shared the same name. “People fight tooth and nail for market share. People are not as friendly as they used to be.”

Grimm has had its own run-ins with other breweries over naming issues.

At one time, it appeared there was a brewery in Michigan looking to launch a Grimm Brewery and a West Coast brewery that also had a beers with fairy tale themes that sent a few “nasty” emails, Fruits said.

“Everyone runs into it at some point,” he said.

Verboten already had a scare with the name of its brewery when its operators they discovered that Weyerbacher Brewing Co. in Easton, Pa., had a beer named Verboten. Grenz said they worked out an agreement in which they could use the name for their brewery as long as they don’t brew a beer by that name.

In 2009, when what was then Horsetooth Brewing Co., was looking to open, it was forced to change its name to Pateros Creek Brewing Co., based on a conflict with CooperSmith’s Pub & Brewing’s Horsetooth Stout beer name.